There is an urgent need for separating and protecting laser discs from contacting each other and thereby scratching the recorded or blank audio and optical portions of a laser disc. There is no other protective disc in the prior art that meets this need. All laser disc care products in the prior art depend on Polyester®, Rayon® and Nylon® spunbound tack welded or bonded materials. Polyester and Rayon fabric is used in computer floppy disc envelopes as noted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,586,606 and 4,413,298. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,527 for CD storage, Polyester fabric material is considered softer than cellulosic fibers such as cotton fabric material. The tack welded or bonded Polyester and Rayon fabric of the prior art is not soft in equal directions. The tack welded or bonded Polyester and Rayon fabric material is abrasive to CD's and DVD's. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,731 and 5,462,160 continue the use of Polyester. U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,352 realized cellulosic fibers compressed and thermally bonded together in a plurality of recessed discrete bonding points comprised of Nylon 6 Polycaprolactam® fiber with Rayon cellulosic fiber. U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,470 is a rotating laser disc cleaning device. This cleaning device uses natural or synthetic cleaning materials of velvet, cotton, and a brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,774 is a rotating storage article that allows data to be stored on the article to allow reading or writing of information from the article. Many combinations of vibration damping materials are used. The rotating storage article is not a protective disc and the 2095 Totally Stable® fabric material used in the applicant's invention is not included. U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,32081 is a double-sided storage sleeve for holding CD's and DVDs in a pocket. Comprised of Veralco® Polypropylene® in layers, tack welded or bonded together. This double-sided storage sleeve comprises a plurality of apertures positioned for removable interconnection to a notebook binder. The double-sided sleeve is not a protective disc, it is square and it cannot be placed between CD's and DVD's inside a spindle container. The edges of the backing material used in the prior art are tack welded or bonded. This tack welded or bonded area is not soft in equal directions. This tack welded or bonded area scratches CD's and DVDs and can not be used to clean a CD or DVD. The fabric protective disc of this invention is comprised of 2095 Totally Stable® wet laid, water based processed, cut away, 3.0 ounce, non-woven, 85% Acrylic Latex Polyester and 15% cellulose wood pulp fabric backing material with a thickness of 0.018 to 0.040 inches. The fabric protective disc is soft in equal directions and can be used to clean a CD and DVD. The fabric protective disc has a centrally located aperture allowing the fabric protective disc to be placed between each CD and DVD in a spindle container.
The applicant first started his work on U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,729 The Record Divider and Preservative. When laser discs were first introduced they were made of Du Pont Mylar® and scratches did not affect them. Now laser discs are made of G.E., Lexan® and scratches do affect them. The applicant of this invention has researched many fabrics to find strong material properties to be soft on laser discs. The fabric protective disc of this invention is all that is needed for the protection of laser discs outside of a laser disc drive and inside or outside of a laser disc case. Totally Stable® 2095 wet laid, water based processed, cut away, 3.0 ounce, non-woven, 85% acrylic latex polyester and 15% cellulose wood pulp fabric backing material with a thickness of 0.018 to 0.040 inches, is soft in equal directions and can be used to clean a laser disc wet or dry, never scratching a laser disc. Totally Stable 2095® backing material is resilient, it will return to its original shape after being compressed, folded or bent. The tear away spun bound, tack welded material of the prior art will leave permanent crease marks after being compressed, folded or bent. The tear away spun bound, tack welded material is not soft in equal directions and cannot be used to clean a laser disc. Thinner Pelon® fabric material will also scratch laser discs.
The fabric protective disc of the applicant's invention further includes a removable and a permanently fastened spindle adaptor ring for use outside of a laser disc drive or container. The spindle adaptor ring releasably attaches the fabric protective disc to a laser disc by the use of a press fit spindle.
As will be seen from the foregoing drawings and description, this invention further includes a protective enclosure disc for laser discs inside and outside a laser disc drive. This protective enclosure disc covers a laser disc protecting both sides from scratches and dirt. The protective enclosure disc is made of clear Du Pont, Mylar® or General Electric, Lexan® plastic material with a thickness of 0.010 to 0.020 inches. The fabric protective disc is used with each protective enclosure disc outside of a laser disc drive to protect the outer surfaces of the enclosure disc.
The known prior art relating to protective discs for laser discs includes the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,413,298, 5,588,527; 4,850,731; 5,462,160; 4,610,352; 4,520,470; 3,854,729; 4,586,606; 4,276,636; 1,683,440 and 4,316,281.